Penghu National Scenic Area

Jibei Island

Jibei Island is commonly used for water activities, and the island houses various types of recreational activities, including banana boat, dragged buoy, two-man speedboat, water motorcycle, under-the-sea sightseeing boat, paragliding and snorkeling. Another tourism feature of Jibei is the number of "stone weirs" housed here; there are over 80 stone weirs, more than any other places in Penghu, thus winning the name "Home of the Stone Weirs"

Mudou Islet (Chinese: 目斗嶼) is situated at the north end of the Penghu islands, only 7 km away from Jibei islet to the south; the island is 454 metres in perimeter and only 0.021 square kilometres in area, it is a tiny islet, famous for its Mudou Lighthouse. The waters between Mudou islet and Jibei islet consist of a deep water abrasion platform, and submerged reefs can be found everywhere in the area, hence, the numerous accounts of shipwrecks. It is said that ancestors who lived on Jibei used to pick up floating stuff from the wrecked ships. But for precisely the same reason, animals and plants under the sea can all enjoy sufficient sunlight, and people above water can also see right to the bottom of the ocean. To ensure the safety of the boats while travelling the dangerous area, the lighthouse was built on Mudou in 1921, when Taiwan was a Japanese colony. An iron-framed lighthouse of 40 metres high, painted in black and white stripes, standing as the tallest lighthouse in East Asia.

The lighthouse is equipped with its own generators. The basalt that formed Mudou islet still maintains its primitive landscape, with black rocks tightly surrounding the island. There is a shallow sand belt between Mudou and Jibei, extending hundreds of meters long and 5m wide, where the water only comes up to the knees. Seashells can also be found. Another special landscape of Mudou islet is the underwater tunnel. It is at the bottom of a steep cliff, hidden by the sea during flood tide, but when the tide ebbs, people can walk in sideways. The tunnel is about 80m long, it is a special basalt fissure.

Gupo Island

Gupo Island is situated northwest of Baisha and southwest of Jibei Island. It is a mesa plateau composed by basalt; extending 1 metre from north to south, being the largest unmanned island among the Penghu archipelago. The islet has a lot of vesicular basalt, but the surface is covered with ferrugieous quartz sandstone. The islet houses a British Shipwreck Monument, on its east side is the silver anchovy fish ground, and the southeast side houses corals. The north side is the famous laver ground, Penghu island has a lot of reefs and is extremely windy with big waves during the winter, and this place is known far and wide for its abundant harvest of laver; towards the end of every lunar year, there will be a large harvest event, when firecrackers will be lit, and everybody will bring out their best skills to harvest laver.

The origin of the name Gupo has aroused the curiosity from many. There is a legend that says that a long time ago, there lived a young lady, who had a boyfriend whom she had loved for years; however, her parents were against this relationship and forced her to marry someone else. The girl decided to run away from home to fight against her parents' decision to marry her to someone else, and also to prove that her love with her boyfriend was strong. She came to the unmanned island and lived out her days all alone. When her younger family members visited her, they would call her "Gupo" (姑婆, great aunt) out of respect.

Xianjiao Islet (Chinese: 險礁嶼) is located south of Jibei islet, Baisha Township in Penghu County, and north of Chihkan. This place won its name because it is surrounded by submerged reefs (險礁, xianjiao), but the surrounding underwater natural resources are rich, making this a great spot for snorkeling. In addition to the abrasion platform formed by a small rock on the east half of Xianjiao islet, most of the island is a white sand beach composed of sand grains, shell and coral fragments. The name warns passing-by boats to beware of the waters here.

Yuanbei Island

Yuanbei Island is situated east of the Citou Village on Baisha islet. The entire Yuanbei islet is a hill, and it was named so because it is shaped like a seashell covering the water (員貝 means "circular shell"). The basalt columnar joints of the north coast on Yuanbei are well developed, among which, the stone pen and stone ink holder is most renowned; the east coast of Yuanbei islet has a piece of flat columnar basalt, with its surfaces full of wrinkles just like a pleated skirt; this is a place visitors know for its "one pen, one ink holder, one skirt" view, currently listed as the Basalt Reservation Area.

When the tide ebbs, there will be a shallow water path extending from Cao islet to the Guardian Stone; the 4.6 km shallow water path can take you to Shagang Village on the other side. The Yuanbei islet shallow water path is composed of stone plates, stone fragments and coral reefs, it is a sea path which Yuanbei ancestors used to rely on for outside contact, bearing significant historical meaning, adding to the fact that there is a rich shallow sea ecology here, the Yuanbeiyu shallow water path has become a popular route in recent years.

"Starry Kuibi"(奎壁聯輝) of Beiliao Kuibi (北寮奎壁) is one of the eight most renowned views in the Magong area of the National Scenic Area, and wave-chasing in Kuibishan (奎壁山), located in Beiliao, has become an important tourism resource in Penghu. The original name was very similar to its present one: the place was firstly named Guibishan (龜壁山), which translated means "turtle wall mountain", because when looking at Beiliao coast from a distance, the area's shape resembles a sea turtle bending over on the sea. However, this suggestive name was later changed to its present one, which sounds pretty similar: Kuibishan (奎壁山), which is a homonymic sound.

In the past, on a full-moon night, when there were still many fishing boats out on the sea towards the east, you would feel as if you were part of the starry sky; thus such view was named "Starry Kuibi".

Located to the south of the previous location, the observatory

Nei'an Recreation Area (Chinese: 內垵遊憩區) houses an enormous beach, well known for its clear waters and white sand. The flat terrain provided residents of Nei'an Village (內垵村) and Wai'an Village (外安村) a place to play with water and engage in intertidal zone activities. At the back of the beach is a narrow wooden path built according to the terrain, from there, you can look at Houziwei Cape (鱟仔尾岬) in Chixi (池西) from a distance.

Neian North Sea Fishing Port has been selected by the Penghu County Government to build the first Waterpark in Taiwan.

Penghu is primarily composed of solidified lava from successive volcano eruptions, that endured and suffered the erosion of wind, rain and wave erosion during centuries, before becoming the present geological landscape. The place is known for its shaped rocks. Xiaomen Geology Gallery is situated at the entrance of the Xiaomen Recreational Area. The exhibition hall houses an information post.

Xiaomen islet (Xiaomen Yu) is situated in Xiaomen Village (小門村) in Xiyu Township, north of Xi islet (西嶼), being 0.5121 square kilometers in area. It has long been known as the "Pearl of Houmen". Xiaomen Bridge connects Xiaomen islet with Xi islet Township, where there is a Scenic Center and a car park, as well as a path around the island, making this a famous scenic site. The name has its own history: East of Xiaomen Village lies a path with mountains on both sides. In the past, this path was the only access to the outside for villagers in the village, and the path looked like a small door (the literal meaning of Xiaomen) from a distance, hence the name.

In front of the Baoan Temple (保安宮) in Tongliang Village (通樑村), there is an old banyan (Ficus benghalensis) dated over 300 years, which is the oldest and largest tree in Penghu, (it occupies a total of 95 cubic feet), which provides shadow for people. If visitors do not look closely, they can hardly tell that they are all from the same trunk. There is a legend about this tree: it says that during 1662–1722, a merchant vessel passed the waters around Tongliang when it encountered a shipwreck, and the only thing that survived was a sapling floating on the sea. Residents of Tongliang picked it up and planted it in front of the temple; judging by this legend, the Tongliang Great Banyan could possibly be over 300 years old. However, there is still another legend saying that the Tongliang Great Banyan is probably only a hundred years old: according to Chinese planting customs, trees are usually planted after a temple is built, so, judging by the history of Baoan Temple, which was established just over a hundred years ago, and not three centuries, the Tongliang Great Banyan could be not that old.

The wind farm sits in Zhongtun Village (中屯村) of Baisha Township, and it was the second wind farm to be built in the Republic of China. It has been in operation since August 2001. Such a construction would be unthinkable if Penghu were a National park.

During the Qing Dynasty, the terrain here was relatively lower than today with abundant water resources and rich fertile soils. Green vegetables were growth in large patches, so the place was named Caiyuan, which literally translates as vegetable garden.

Caiyuan is situated southeast of Magong, close to the inner bay northeast of the inland sea; the rich oceanic resources housed here enables a diversified ecology park, including wetland ecology and shallow coral grounds. Like all fishing ports, Caiyuan Fishing Port also has fresh fishes from the sea, and oyster and near-sea net cage activities can also be seen. There is a "Caiyuan Life Memorial Park" nearby.

The beach is situated on Fenggui Peninsula (風櫃半島), down the south end of Magong City. This spot, located on the southwestern side, extends over 1 kilometer and it's also a well known sandy beach. Water activities and snorkeling can be practiced here. There is an earth mound just north of Shili Village (蒔裡村), shaped like a shamao (紗帽), the hat officials wore in the pre-republican era. Following this similarity, the mound was called Shamao Hill (紗帽山). Shili just happens to be inside the extended part of the "shamao" (pronounced as "shi" in Taiwanese). Hence the village was named "Shinei" (蒔內) or "Shili" (蒔裡). Both "nei" and "li" means "inside").

Shanshui used to be called "sow in water" (豬母落水). A legend says that there was once a sow on the beach who got dragged into the sea by a giant octopus, so the place was named sow in water. During the Japanese colonization of Taiwan and Penghu, the place was renamed to "sow water" (豬母水), and then "Shanshui" (山水) after the retrocession of both Taiwan and Penghu to the Republic of China on 25 October 1945 at the end of the Second World War. The area comprised between Guanyin Mountain (觀音山), near the Shanshui fishing port east of Shanshui south-bank, and Zhumushuishan (豬母水山) on the west side, is called Zhumushuian (豬母水垵).

To listen to the waves at Fenggui Cave is a well-known activity in Penghu. Fenggui Village (風櫃里) is situated at the very end of Fenggui Peninsula (風櫃半島), so this place used to be called "End of Fenggui" (風櫃尾). The south coast of the village has well-developed basalt columns, and there is an abrasion ditch eroded by the waves and a sea hole at the bottom of the abrasion ditch due to erosion. From the sea hole, there is an opening that goes up to the ground following the joint fissure, so that every time the tide rises, the waves will pour into the abrasion ditch, push the air inside the sea hole, and gush out the opening along the joint fissure carrying some sea water, making a howling sound, just like the noise made by a wind pumper.

The beach in front of Lintou Park stretches across four villages, including Jianshan (尖山), Wuni (烏泥), Lintou (林投) and Aimen (隘門), rounding to a total of over 3,000 meters. It is the longest beach in the entire Penghu, surrounding the south coast of Hushi Township (湖西鄉). The sand on the beach is thin and smooth, the water is clear and clean. Originally obscure (it is next to the No. 9 public cemetery), people initially didn't pay attention to the beach at all. With the help of the Northeast monsoon, sand here were started to swept away and the beach was gradually disappearing. However, starting from 1998, "Li Tianyu", head of Aimen Village (隘門村), started reforming the community beach himself with the help of his son, putting up street lamps and nets to stop the sand from disappearing. Their effort finally won the attention of the county government and the Penghu National Scenic Center, which listed budgets to reconstruct Aimen beach, finally making this place the beach it is today.

Tongpan islet is 6 nautical miles off the coast of Magong Island. The entire island is surrounded by columns of basalt. The columnar joints and platy joints on this island are all very well developed: being originally a hexagon or a pentagon, the rock columns are now pretty much circular on the edges due to erosion. The color has also faded due to oxidation, some parts of the basalt columns have already been transformed into a ball shape. There is an abrasion platform on the southwestern coast of Tongpan that has a concentric circles formed by the basalt lava, called the "lotus platform" (蓮花座).

Hujing Island sits seven nautical miles off the coast of Magong City. The trip from there takes about 25 minutes by boat. The seventh largest island in Penghu is flat and low in the center, rising up on the east and west, with basaltic transverse joints lined up along the coast. When the tide ebbs, visitors can see the clear sea water, which is what makes this place, "Hujing Clear Deep" (虎井澄淵), one of the eight best known sights in Penghu. There is also a legend: the legend of "Hujing Sunken City" (虎井沈城). It says that there was something that resembled a decadent city wall lying at the bottom of the ocean beneath Hujing. There has never been a real answer as to what the truth really is, and there has long been two discrepant theories among academics: one states that "the sunken ancient city is the basaltic columnar joint terrain extended under the sea from Tongpan and Hujing, therefore forming the false impression of a sunken city". The other theory says that there must be another reason for it, because the structure is documented in historical literature, and not only is in the ancient history books, but also in many local legends that name this unusual sight.

"Mandarin ducks hole" (Yuanyang Hole) is situated northeast of Wangan Island. It is a naturally formed valley. Legend says that in the early days, there were many water holes here, and mandarin ducks used to dabble with water and rest here, hence it was named "Yuanyang Hole" (鴛, yuan, means male Mandarin duck -Aix galericulata- and 鴦, yang, means female Mandarin duck). There is an islet that forms a barrier on the sea that protects the place from strong waves. The islet has a mountain that resembles a horse (馬, ma, in Mandarin Chinese), so the islet is called Ma'an Mountain Islet (馬鞍山嶼). Taking this into consideration, the place was transformed into an important Japanese Navy base during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and Penghu. The origins of Zangjun Cave are closely associated with this period of the history of Taiwan too. In 1944, during the Second World War, the Imperial Japanese Army forced the residents of Wangan and Zangjun islands to dig this cave to store gunpowder and weapons. It was also designed to be used as a bomb shelter for residents to cover from air raids. Just before it was to be completed, Japan declared its unconditional surrender, and the base was abandoned. Many of the caves initially built have collapsed, but some of them can still be seen.

Tiantai Hill (Chinese: 天台山) is situated on Wangan Islet. Gangqiu Grassland (岡丘草原) is the highest place on Tiantai Hill. Nearby, the place for the famous Penghu aragonite can be seen. The surrounding grassland is flat, with occasional cattle or goats trotting by. Tiantai Hill has become the best place to watch Wangan Islet and Hua islet from a distance. Tiantai Hill is a piece of micro-gabbro rock with sheeting joints. There is a magnificent basalt landscape beneath the sea cliff on the west side and visitors will also see a hole of about 30 meters high that leads directly to the sea. Some "stone flowers" can also be seen.

Wang'ankou Beach (Chinese: 網垵口沙灘) is called the "Dream Beach" because of its soft white sand accompanied by clear blue ocean. Whenever the tide rises, the clean white beach will enter the clear blue ocean. When watched from the distance, it looks just like a skirt, swaying in the wind. The beach is also a place green turtles migrate back to. From May to October, visitors can see the crawl marks on the beach left behind by the turtles. Professional guides provide tourists with the necessary explanations.

Wangan Green Turtle Tourism and Conservation Center

In 1994, the first green turtle carrying a satellite tracker set out from Wangan in Penghu, heading North crossed the Taiwan Strait, through the East China Sea Shelf, ending up in an island south of Kyūshū in Japan. The turtle spent three years and traveled 3,400 kilometers back to Penghu, providing an important record for the research of green turtles in Taiwan. Many beaches on the island of Taiwan were recorded to have sea turtles coming ashore to lay eggs, but as development changed the coastal environment, fewer places were able to support natural life. Today, there are only a few places left in the island of Taiwan, but the reserve in Wangan Township of Penghu County is a place where green turtles visit more often and more steady to lay eggs. Shouldn't be a surprise, considering the low level of development of the area. Standing southeast of Wangan islet, there is a building shaped like a sea turtle: it's the Wangan Green Turtle Tourism and Conservation Center.

This spot is one of the more well-preserved traditional houses in Penghu County. Originally named "Flower House" (花宅), the legend says that when this village was firstly established, their ancestors looked at the local terrain, and discovered that the mountains surrounding the place were just like lotus petals. Therefore, they firstly named the land around "the heart of the flower" (山仔尾頂, Shanziweiding) and built a house, thus naming it "Flower House", also meaning that the house that was built at the heart of the flower. In 1971, the late president Chiang Ching-kuo visited the flower house, and observing that it sits in the middle of other four villages in Wangan Township, renamed it "Zhongshe" (中社, the village in the middle). The village is filled with ancient houses that are built of coral. There were originally over 80 sanheyuan (三合院, old three-section compound house), and now only about 50 of them are still well-preserved. The architectural style of the historical houses in Zhongshe Village is called "one stamp" style sanheyuan (一顆印式三合院建築).

Double-Heart of Stacked Stones

There are a total of 558 stone weirs in Penghu, and up to 88 of them are distributed around Jibei islet, ranking first in the world both in terms of number and density. Local ancestors fed generations of offspring toiling away with these stone weir. Cimei islet has only one stone weir, but because it is shaped like two hearts, it is famous for being the Double-Heart of Stacked Stones. Originally, the stacked stones was built out of basalt and coral reefs as traditional traps for fishing. Today, the catches have gradually decreased, but the twin hearts design of the stone weir attracts endless tourists here. Twin hearts stone weir is the most well-preserved stone weir in the entire of Penghu. Visitors should check the tide ebb time for the day to see the complete twin hearts shaped stone weir. Every year, a Penghu Stone Weir Festival (澎湖地區眾多石滬中) is held. This is a very big event for tourism in Penghu, together with the Penghu Gourmet Carnival.

Situated 500 meters southeast of Nanhu Port in Cimei Township, the Seven Beauties Tomb (Chinese: 七美人塚) is what remains of a well-known story of chastity. The story is also the origin of its place name. There are two stone tablets next to the Seven Beauties Tomb, on the left, is the Seven Beauties Tomb Stone established by the Japanese, and on the right is the Seven Beauties Song tablet, telling the story and origin of the Seven Beauties Tomb. In order for the spirits of the seven beauties to have a place to dwell, residents in Cimei built seven little houses next to the tomb, and placed seven sets of makeup in front of the tomb as offerings for them. Legend has it that during the Ming Dynasty, a group of pirates came ashore from the southern coast of Cimei. At that time, all the men on the island were out on the sea fishing, with the exception of children and old men. Women were also in the inland. Among them, there were seven ladies who were working nearby in the mountains, doing their laundry beside a water well when they were attacked by Japanese pirates. To avoid being raped by the pirates, the group decided to commit suicide by plunging into the water well. Afterwards, residents filled the water well with soil, and seven lushly catalpa bungei grew later on. In 1949, Mayor Liu Yanfu (劉燕夫) and General He Zhihao (何志浩) came to visit. General He was inspired by this story and wrote down a Seven Beauties Song on the spot, which was later carved onto the stone tablet; the song goes:

七美人兮百壁姿，抱貞拒絕兮死隨之，
英魂永寄孤芳樹，井上長春兮開滿枝

"the seven beauties are all innocent, and would rather die than be disgraced;
their brave spirits will forever be on the trees, which will bloom forever on the well."

The story of the seven beauties willing to die protecting their chastity was thus recorded, and the place was enlarged and became "Seven Beauties Chastity Garden" (七美人貞節園).

Little Taiwan

Little Taiwan sits in Donghu Village (東湖村) of Cimei Township. The place is called this way because looking down from a gazebo, visitors can see the result of years of wave erosion, forming an abrasion platform shaped like the island of Taiwan on a reduced scale, hence, it is called Cimei Little Taiwan (七美小台灣); there is also a rock shaped like Gueishan Island (龜山島) in the same spot: both structures look even more obvious when the tide is low.

Also located in Cimei, the Great Lion Scenic Area (Chinese: 大獅風景區) overlooks Longcheng (龍埕, "shaped like a dragon"). The name itself suggests what the place is like: standing high up on the hilltop looking down, visitors can actually see the body, the head and the tail of a dragon, even the foams splashed by the waves seem like white dragons swimming. Longcheng is an abrasion platform with pot holes and chessboard rocks.

The Yueli Bay (月鯉灣) sits southeast of Cimei, forming a beautiful arc-shaped bay with white coral and a sand beach; this is the only sand beach on Cimei Island, along with rich recreational resources, and reef coral terrain formed by the coral reefs connected to the island; It is also a known place for diving activities, its corals and tropical fishes.